


Ablate

by camichats



Series: Dictionary Prompts [36]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 09:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15288885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Peter makes a little mistake, and while Tony finds it funny, it makes him think about why Peter's been acting so off lately.





	Ablate

Tony stared at- well, nothing but at the place that used to hold the oldest tree on the Mansion's grounds, and he tried desperately not to laugh. Next to him, Peter was wringing his hands, looking between Tony and the newly blank space.    
  
"I'm so sorry Tony, I don't know what happened. One minute I was walking along with the artifact like I was supposed to, and then I tripped and it- okay there was a flash of purple light and it hit the tree and it vanished. And- and then I went and got you. It only took five minutes, tops, I swear I didn’t do this earlier and just forgot to get you."    
  
"You... tripped," Tony repeated doubtfully. Peter did have a nervous energy about him, but he was always graceful (in body at least). He ran into things sometimes when he and Tony were talking, but it was always preceded by senseless babbling about flowers and food and because he was backing away without looking where he was going. Tony did not believe that Peter just up and tripped while walking all by himself.    
  
Peter nodded though, looking painfully earnest like Cap did when he first came out of the ice.    
  
"Peter, you don't trip."    
  
"I do sometimes!" he said defensively.    
  
"When you're talking to someone maybe, not just while you're walking. Peter, it's okay if you messed up, we all fuck up sometimes. You want to tell me what really happened?"    
  
"I did! I'm not lying Tony, jesus christ."    
  
"Okay, so you were walking and tripped. What did you trip over?"    
  
He shifted uncomfortably. "It might have been a rock, but it might also have been my own foot."    
  
Tony frowned, concerned. "You've been out of it for a couple weeks, is everything alright?"    
  
"Don't you want to ask me more about the missing tree?" Peter asked, turning back to the spot with obviously fake interest. "It's quite the conundrum, all the roots still look like they're in the ground, and the little plaque is still there, but the actual trunk and everything above it is missing. Strange indeed. And I did walk where it used to be to make sure it wasn't invisible or cloaked or something."    
  
"Good to know that it's missing and not hiding in plain sight," Tony agreed. "What are you thinking about that's got you like this?"    
  
"I'd rather not talk about it," Peter said quietly, not looking at him.    
  
"You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, but I think you need to talk to someone. It's been weeks, and nothing's changed with you. It hasn't affected your fighting yet, but I don't want to wait for that to happen for you to deal with this-- whatever 'this' might be."    
  
"It's..." Peter ruffled his hair as his cheeks pinked. "I like someone, and they don't feel the same."    
  
"You sure about that? Cause no offense Peter, you're nothing to sniff at."    
  
"Why would I be offended by that?"    
  
Tony shrugged. "I'm older than you, you might think it was weird. My point is, you're not acting like someone who's been turned down, you're acting like someone who's pining and also doesn't know that they're a catch. You're Spiderman! Come on, who wouldn't want to date you?"    
  
"I can think of a few people."    
  
"Villains don't count."    
  
Peter snorted. "Yeah, I wasn't thinking about villains. Quite the opposite."    
  
"Have other heroes been talking shit? Tell me who, I'll kick their ass." When Peter started laughing, Tony added, "I'm serious. Give me a list, Peter, I'll track them down. I don't care if it was Captain America himself, I will do it. Not that I think Steve would do that, mind you, but it's the thought that counts. I’ll beat up anyone for you, I will kick my own ass if I need to."    
  
That just made Peter laugh harder. "Thanks Tony, but that would be sort of self-defeating."    
  
"What?" Tony asked, suddenly confused. He wasn't often confused he felt like, but with Peter it was touch and go. This must be what Pepper was talking about when she said she couldn't follow his train of thought.    
  
Peter froze. "Uh, nothing. Nothing at all. I'll just go call Strange. Or maybe Thor, he has Loki with him right now I think, but asking Loki questions tends to end poorly for me so Thor is the safe option to still get information." With that, he took off for the mansion, walking as fast as he could without running.    
  
Tony stared after him, bemused. He wanted to chase after him and figure out what was going on, but Peter could avoid like nobody's business when he put his mind to it. Tony sighed and turned to the blank spot. Might as well look into it while he was here.    


* * *

The next time Tony saw him, he was stuck to the ceiling looking miserable. Tony whistled sharply to get his attention-- calling out to him had been proven not to work in the past. "Hey."    
  
"Uh- hi."    
  
"You want to come down here so we can talk?"    
  
"Not really."    
  
"Will you anyways? Please?"    
  
"I don't see why," Peter grumbled.    
  
"Because I think you're mad at me and I wanted to ask you why so I can figure out how to make it better." Historically, waiting for things to get better didn’t end well for him.    
  
Peter dropped from the ceiling in a well-practiced flip that looked-- and probably was-- effortless. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm not mad at you, jesus Tony. I've been mad at you exactly once, and I said it right to your face."    
  
"You did, and I appreciate that because passive aggressive doesn't work for me, but that doesn't change the fact that you're avoiding me."    
  
"It hasn't even been a day, I don't think that's enough time to be considered 'avoiding'."    
  
"It is for us," Tony argued. "Look Peter, if you don't want me to poke my nose in your love life, I won't, I just need you to say it. Preferably right now so I don't make an ass of myself."    
  
"It's not- oh god." Peter covered his face with his hands. "It's not like that Tony. I- I like you, that's why I can't talk to you about it."    
  
Tony's mouth worked but no words came out. "Uh Peter? I don't think you like me."    
  
Peter peeked through his hands. "I wasn't expecting this reaction, I'm not prepared," he mumbled to himself. He dropped his hands back to his side. "You think I'm- what, lying about liking you?"    
  
"Not lying, just confused."    
  
"I've liked people before Tony, I think I know how it feels by now."    
  
"I'm sure you do, but- Peter you're young."    
  
"And...?"    
  
"And I'm not. Even if you did like me, I don't think it would go very well, and besides, you just have a mentor crush."    
  
"No, I had a mentor crush on you when we first met, and then it went away. I've dated since then, and now here we are."    
  
"Are you sure?"    
  
"Yeah. Pretty fucking sure. I've been trying to ask you out for like a month, and you didn't even notice. It’s possible you were blowing me off on purpose but I was really hoping that you just didn't know I was asking."    
  
"I definitely did not know that you were asking me on dates. Wait, is that why you were asking me about flowers the other day? You know you don't have to bring flowers on a date unless you're corny romantic or old fashioned, right? It might be a good move if you were dating Steve, but me," he shrugged.    
  
Peter rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to bring you flowers, I was trying to ask if you wanted to go that garden with me. It's spring, everything good is blooming. MJ said it's really pretty, so I thought you might want to go because you like pretty things, especially flowers. You try and pretend like you don't, but I've seen your art collection."    
  
"Pepper collected all that."    
  
"Not your fancy art collection with all the big names, I mean the paintings you have hung up around here. You know, the ones with the flowers."    
  
Tony just looked at him blankly.    
  
"You know, the one above the fireplace? It's all red and blue flowers. It's a really good painting Tony, and I asked Pepper once, and she said you bought that one yourself. Do you know the one I'm talking about?"    
  
"I know which painting you're talking about."    
  
"Then why do you look like that?"    
  
"I- uh. I need some time to think about this."    
  
Peter nodded, a hand going up to ruffle his hair nervously. "Yeah, of course. I'll uh- I'll see you tomorrow?"    
  
"Sure. Oh and good work with the tree."    
  
Peter frowned in confusion. "I didn't get it back."    
  
"No, I meant with vanishing it." He shot Peter a grin. "I always hated that thing. If you can't get it back, that's the opposite of a problem. Just so you know."    
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Peter said with a small returning smile before he shuffled away.    
  
Tony sighed and went to his room. He didn’t spend much time in there, preferring to stick to common areas or the ‘shop when he wanted to think. Today though, he needed a place to think where he wouldn't be interrupted, and the only place he could think of was his bedroom.    
  
Peter liked him? That was... possible, apparently, just highly improbable. Yet here they were. With Peter being so nervous that he tripped while holding an alien artifact. Tony hadn't been lying to him-- he hated that tree. It was the principle of the matter though. It could have had such a worse outcome than a stupid tree that only the city cared about. What if that artifact had been explosive? Peter could have blown himself up, and because he was distracted by Tony of all people.    
  
Peter liked him, and he seemed convinced that it was real and not some passing crush. It's not that Tony thought Peter was too young, it's that he thought himself too old. He was forty: a solid fifteen years older than Peter. And... yeah maybe he'd had a few fantasies since Spiderman had become an Avenger, but he was a dirty old man, as long as he kept his hands to himself and felt bad about it, it was fine. Mostly. Sort of. Okay, but the point is that it wasn't fine at all now that there was an actual chance of it happening.    
  
Tony's mind was spinning in circles, so he did what he always did in these situations. He called Rhodey. "Hey honey bear."    
  
"Hey Tones. What's wrong?" Rhodey asked, voice etched with worry.    
  
"What makes you think something's wrong?"    
  
There was a pause and the sound of a door closing followed by Rhodey sighing. "Nothing, I just needed to get out of that meeting. Saying that Iron Man is calling me got me part of the way out, I just needed to sound all concerned to make it all the way. What's up?"    
  
"You know Peter?"    
  
"Your spiderling? Yeah. He alright?"    
  
Tony flubbed on trying to say that he was fine and settled with, "Why did you call him my spiderling?"    
  
"You hang out all the time, and- I mean, Tony if you were a cartoon you'd have pumping heart eyes every time he walks into the room. Not that that's a bad thing, he's a good guy, and it's nice to see you so in love. Unless he cheated on you or something and that's why you're calling. If that's what happened, I hate him and we’ll go get wasted."    
  
"We're not together," Tony said, feeling numb. Rhodey thought they were together? This was the man that knew everything about him, whether Tony liked it or not, and he thought they were together? Maybe there was more merit to the idea than Tony had let himself think.    
  
"You're not?"    
  
"No."    
  
"Oh. Why not? I could've sworn he looked at you the same way."    
  
"Yeah," Tony said, rubbing at his forehead, "I don't think you're wrong about that."    
  
"Oh?" Rhodey said again, this time alight with good old fashioned nosiness.    
  
"He told me that he liked me earlier, and he says it's not a mentor crush."    
  
"I don't see where the problem is coming in. This sounds like a perfect little romance."    
  
"I'm so much older than him, Rhodey," Tony whined.    
  
"You act like a twenty three year old at most."    
  
"I have it on good authority that it doesn't matter how old or young you act when it comes to shit like this. He’s  _ fifteen _ years younger than me."    
  
"He's not underage, Tones, he's an adult and a superhero. I have complete faith in Peter's ability to know when what he likes is unacceptable."    
  
"You hardly ever see him."    
  
"I see him enough to know that he loves you," Rhodey said, drawing out 'loves' like he was a fourteen year old all of a sudden.    
  
"You are not helping."    
  
"You say that, but I think that I already did. For my act of goodwill to my idiotic best friend, I now get to tease you about this endlessly."    
  
"No. No no, you only get to tease me if it all turns out okay."    
  
"It'll be fine, go kiss his face off."    
  
"Rhodey," he groaned.    
  
"It'll be fun! You can peel his mask up just enough to uncover his mouth and have a little superhero make out."    
  
"Sounds like you've thought about this an awful lot. I'm kinda worried. What have you been doing while you're giving me hopefully kick ass advice?"    
  
"It's entirely possible that I've been drinking during this conversation, but you have no proof."    
  
Tony snorted. "Good example Colonel."    
  
"I learned from the best. Or you. Whatever you want to label yourself right now because I learned day drinking from you."    
  
"I seem to remember a certain someone at MIT taking shots before finals."    
  
"Shut up and go kiss Peter. Oh, and thanks for getting me out of that meeting."    
  
"No problem Rhodey pie. Thanks for the help."    
  
"Mhm."    
  
Tony hung up and took several deep, calming breaths. Rhodey didn't tend to be wrong. Tony just needed to find Peter and talk to him before he chickened out. He scrolled through his contacts and stopped at the little hearts after Peter's name. He remembered adding those, but to see it in the context of the recent developments of Peter actually liking him, it was something else.    
  
"Tony? Is everything okay? I didn't get an alert, is my badge malfunctioning?"    
  
"No, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering if you wanted to get dinner together."    
  
"Tonight?"    
  
"Yeah, unless you're busy."    
  
"Considering that my friends are out of the country and my only job is being an Avenger, it's pretty safe to say that my schedule is wide open."    
  
"I was trying to give you an out, but fine, be honest if that's what you want," Tony said drily.    
  
Peter chuckled. "Do I want to know why you're asking me to dinner? Should I use my waterproof makeup?"    
  
"You've been spending time with Deadpool haven't you."    
  
"Maybe. He's entertaining."    
  
"Extremely, but as a rule, when you start talking like him, you need some space."    
  
"He's in South America right now. I think. Point is, he's not on this continent, so I have space from him whether or not I want it. Which I don't, really. He tends to get in trouble when he spends too long away."    
  
"I've noticed that. And it's you specifically, not just superheroes in general."    
  
"Yeah, he really likes Spiderman. I don't know why."    
  
"Probably because you're incredible."    
  
"Yeah I- wait what?"    
  
"What what?"    
  
"Did you just call me incredible?"    
  
"You know I like you, this isn't a surprise."    
  
"Well yeah, you like me fine, but complimenting me after I tell you that I like you is... weird."    
  
"Weird if I didn't ask you on a date."    
  
"Huh?"    
  
"What did you think dinner tonight was?"    
  
"A nice big public outing where you tell me thanks but no thanks so that I can't get upset."    
  
Tony made a face, starting to think that he should have had this conversation face to face. "Peter, who have you been dating? Or trying to date but it turns out that they're assholes."    
  
"I'm not saying that that's happened to me, but it is a possibility."    
  
"It's not a possibility with me, ever. Especially not with you."    
  
"Why Mister Stark that was practically romantic."    
  
Tony could picture the way Peter was blushing even as he tried to act coy. "I wouldn't count on it happening again."    
  
Peter hummed, clearly not convinced. "You saying that or you being romantic?"    
  
"Both."    
  
"I don't believe you," Peter said mildly. "So where are we going?"    
  
"You like Italian?"    
  
"Of course I do, I'm dating you aren't I? And just so you know, eating Italian on a date automatically makes it romantic. Haven't you seen Lady and the Tramp?"    
  
Tony just laughed. "I'll see you at seven."    


* * *

Tony gasped as his back hit the wall, fisting his hands in Peter's shirt as they kissed.    
  
"Not too fast?" Peter asked, even as he licked and kissed his way down to the base of Tony's neck to suck a hickey. Tony usually wasn't into that because his dates were more like hookups and he didn't want any marks from them, but this was Peter. He tilted his neck to the side to give him more room, and Peter took it gratefully, changing the angle and sucking harder to make Tony moan.    
  
"According to Rhodey-" Tony gasped "-this is a long time coming."    
  
Peter hummed. "Rhodey's a smart man. You gonna let me take you to your room?"    
  
"It doesn't seem like you're letting me do anything here."    
  
"You complaining?"    
  
Tony rolled his hips against Peter's. "Definitely not."    
  
"You didn't answer the question."    
  
"Peter if you don't take me to bed, I'm going to turn rogue and blame it on Richards."    
  
"Why Richards?"    
  
"I can't believe I of all people am saying this, but do you ever stop talking?"    
  
"Not really."    
  
"Can you talk and move?"    
  
"Yeah."    
  
"Then do that." All of a sudden, Peter picked Tony up and started walking down the hall. "See, this is why we're great together."    
  
Peter laughed, pausing to kiss him again. "Glad you're enjoying yourself."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [@cami-chats](http://cami-chats.tumblr.com)


End file.
